Ins & Outs: IN-OUT-IN Words
IN-OUT-IN: Spelling Bee words allowed at least once before being disallowed and then allowed againTotal as of 2024-10-28: 28
Occasionally, a word that has been selected for the Spelling Bee – a word that has appeared once, twice, or dozens of times – is later disallowed, and then still later, revived and brought back into active play. Here’s the list of all such IN-OUT-IN words.
In the lists below, the numeric code indicates the number of times a word was allowed, followed by the number of times disallowed, followed by the number of times the word has been used since being allowed again. Thus, 6 / 2 / x means that a word was used in 6 Spelling Bee puzzles, then disallowed from two puzzles, then used again in a puzzle and in all subsequent puzzles in which it was possible.
NOTE: ATTAR appears to be an outlier in this group. It was allowed twice, beginning with the third puzzle in Bee history, then disallowed once just a few weeks later, and then returned to active play, and has been a frequent-flyer ever since, having been selected for dozens more Bee puzzles. As ATTAR is one of the most commonly-used Bee words – in fact, it is one of the most-frequently used Bee words, in a lexicon of more than 10,300 – so that one exclusion appears to have been a simple error of omission. NOTE: The exclusion of COPE from the Spelling Bee of September 3, 2020 was an editorial error, as explained here: https://x.com/thegridkid/status/1301506602621698051
Two lists follow, the first showing the IN-OUT-IN words arranged in descending order by the number of times they had been IN before they had been OUT; the second in simple alphabetical order by Bee word.
Occasionally, a word that has been selected for the Spelling Bee – a word that has appeared once, twice, or dozens of times – is later disallowed, and then still later, revived and brought back into active play. Here’s the list of all such IN-OUT-IN words.
In the lists below, the numeric code indicates the number of times a word was allowed, followed by the number of times disallowed, followed by the number of times the word has been used since being allowed again. Thus, 6 / 2 / x means that a word was used in 6 Spelling Bee puzzles, then disallowed from two puzzles, then used again in a puzzle and in all subsequent puzzles in which it was possible.
NOTE: ATTAR appears to be an outlier in this group. It was allowed twice, beginning with the third puzzle in Bee history, then disallowed once just a few weeks later, and then returned to active play, and has been a frequent-flyer ever since, having been selected for dozens more Bee puzzles. As ATTAR is one of the most commonly-used Bee words – in fact, it is one of the most-frequently used Bee words, in a lexicon of more than 10,300 – so that one exclusion appears to have been a simple error of omission. NOTE: The exclusion of COPE from the Spelling Bee of September 3, 2020 was an editorial error, as explained here: https://x.com/thegridkid/status/1301506602621698051
Two lists follow, the first showing the IN-OUT-IN words arranged in descending order by the number of times they had been IN before they had been OUT; the second in simple alphabetical order by Bee word.
IN DESCENDING ORDER BY NUMBER OF INITIAL ALLOWANCES
WORD IN-OUT-INCOPE 10 / 1 / x
HIATAL 6 / 8 / x
LUNETTE 6 / 1 / xBETEL 4 / 6 / xLUNGFUL 4 / 2 / xGOONY 3 / 4 / xUNGLUE 3 / 1 / xWILDLAND 2 / 3 / xCUPPA 2 / 2 / xNODAL 2 / 2 / xPELLICLE 2 / 2 / xATTAR 2 / 1 / xDOORYARD 2 / 1 / xDOPY 2 / 1 / xNATTILY 2 / 1 / xINDIUM 1 / 4 / xBARMAN 1 / 3 / xFLATFEET 1 / 3 / xANIONIC 1 / 2 / xBELATE 1 / 2 / xCANONIC 1 / 2 / xRIBBIT 1 / 2 / xTORRIDITY 1 / 2 / xBATHMAT 1 / 1 / xDOWDILY 1 / 1 / xGEEKING 1 / 1 / xHUMPH 1 / 1 / xOGIVE 1 / 1 / x
IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER BY BEE WORD
WORD IN-OUT-INANIONIC 1 / 2 / xATTAR 2 / 1 / xBARMAN 1 / 3 / xBATHMAT 1 / 1 / xBELATE 1 / 2 / xBETEL 4 / 6 / xCANONIC 1 / 2 / x
COPE 10 / 1 / xCUPPA 2 / 2 / xDOORYARD 2 / 1 / xDOPY 2 / 1 / xDOWDILY 1 / 1 / xFLATFEET 1 / 3 / xGEEKING 1 / 1 / xGOONY 3 / 4 / x
HIATAL 6 / 8 / xHUMPH 1 / 1 / xINDIUM 1 / 4 / xLUNETTE 6 / 1 / xLUNGFUL 4 / 2 / xNATTILY 2 / 1 / xNODAL 2 / 2 / xOGIVE 1 / 1 / xPELLICLE 2 / 2 / xRIBBIT 1 / 2 / xTORRIDITY 1 / 2 / xUNGLUE 3 / 1 / xWILDLAND 2 / 3 / x